On GovLoop
What is GovLoop and Why is it? GovLoop is a web-based platform for employees of the American public sector, which lands itself somewhere in between a social- and professional-networking apparatus. Created in 2008, GovLoop was inspired by the Gov 2.0 buzz of the Obama campaign, as well as the established need to streamline the American bureaucracy . GovLoop, sometimes called “Facebook for Government,” uses internal blog, discussion, and group modules as a basis for skill- and information-sharing, as well as public and private direct messaging capabilities to connect users. The aim of the GovLoop project is to bring together government employees from a multitude of departments and bureaus, insofar as to become the “knowledge network for government” (Ressler). GovLoop makes significant improvements in the idea-sharing abilities of government employees, who were previously isolated within their specific department, or geographic area (especially for civil servants stationed overseas, or in the non-continental U.S.). However, in some instances, an evident under-utilization may reflect an overarching problem of collective action (or collaborative action). This suggests that while the movement toward what has been termed “Gov 2.0” seeks to improve productivity, the age-old problem of incentivizing voluntary-participation remains. Gov 2.0? GovLoop and P2P While GovLoop is targeted to a specific and arguably elite population (public sector employees), it provides a platform for the same peer-to-peer "prosumption" as do mainstream social-networking sites, such as Facebook. GovLoop members interact with the site in a two-fold way, both producing content and consuming content, that is, both writing and reading blog posts, for example. GovLoop facilitates this interaction through blog posting and comments, direct messaging, specialized discussions and Q&A's (which function like crowd-sourcing). Thus, peer-to-peer collaboration can occur on a large or small scale within the site, and can be opened to a broader network of public sector colleagues with a diversity of experiences and expertise, which would not otherwise be put into one conversation. GovLoop also relies on its members to take their learning through GovLoop and transform it into a value-added for their real-world jobs. Because participation on the site is voluntary, and thus it skews government hierarchies, providing the collaborative product to participants irregardless of status within their organization. In this way, GovLoop allows for innovative ideas to spring up in a way which may be counter to the evident hierarchies of bureaucratic work environments. This anti-hierarchical ethic is embodied in the way that GovLoop is administered. Though GovLoop is a private company, it is driven by an ethos of equity and engagement, embodied by the founder, Steve Ressler. Although GovLoop does collaborate with and provide advertising space to “industry partners” like Google for Gov, advertising is forbidden in any of the public communication modules. Further, the commercial end of the site is inconspicuously located behind the “Directory” hyperlink, and is designed not to overwhelm. Vendors and contractors occupy no particular hierarchy in a searchable set of listing, complete with a simple ranking system of 1-5. The ranking system appears in a thumbnail with company information, and is thus necessarily attached to vendors within the site. In another example, site etiquette, or "netiquette," was established through a demi-consensus bred out of an administrator's blog post & the ensuing comments and suggestions. Administrators are few, and can be contacted by email directly, or through use of the site. Several GovLoop employees are prominent discussion contributors, and the President himself is visible in knowledge-sharing modules. So, although GovLoop occupies a somewhat ambiguous place between public and private, political and altruistic, the people responsible for the website seek to lead by example in ensuring their transparency and accountability – two of the goals for Gov 2.0. GovLoop and Gov 2.0 Gov 2.0 takes two forms. The most common understanding of Gov 2.0 is exemplified by the 2008 Obama campaign and its use of social media platforms to reach constituents through innovative and accessible web-based applications like Twitter, Facebook, and myBarackObama. The Obama White House has continued to utilize social media heavily to reach Americans, and other web users. Following suit, many other agencies have developed Twitter and Facebook accounts to quickly share information and receive feedback (Ressler). The other aspect of Gov 2.0 is present through GovLoop. In a way GovLoop could be understood as representing Gov 1.5. It is the middle step by which government employees become acquainted with how to implement social media for use in government. This is part of the process toward implementing Gov 2.0, which is fully characterized by modern technologies, a willing and tech-literate employment base, and an ethos of transparency and democratic governance (Ressler). To be sure, some of the work toward Gov 2.0 (like applications development and coding) can only be done by tech professionals, yet elements like Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, web-based polling, and the management of other innovative and interactive tools, simply requires a literate staff, who are themselves engaged with the idea of Gov 2.0. The problem with this is that, even though GovLoop succeeds at connecting these workers who might otherwise be isolated from each other, it cannot imbue them with a desire to engage. Admittedly, the act of joining GovLoop is a type of participation, but the limited barriers to membership render this act almost valueless in the face of other issues. In order to register for the site (as I did), a person only needs to provide a small about of vocational information, and supply areas of interest. Thus, willingness (registration) may not be enough to indicate desire (participation). Within GovLoop's comprehensive set of sharing modules, activity is limited, and seems to be restricted within a few patterns. GovLoop employees -- who, by default are interested in the popularization and perpetuation of the site -- are among the most active participants on the website, initiating and "bumping" discussions. Many of GovLoops groups are nearly vacant and lack a considerable amount of activity, with some presenting only one discussion topic with zero responses. It is possible that this represents a more banal issue of content management, indicating an unnecessary replication of topics, however it may also be indicative of a lack of participation or of reciprocation, crucial components of the Web 2.0 paradigm which spawned the Gov 2.0 movement. Whether this is an issue of lacking participation and interest, or simply a mismanagement of tools such that people with common interests cannot easily find each other, or default to initiating new groups and discussions individually, this diffusion or dearth of participation is a problem. GovLoop cannot be effective without collaboration, and to be sure there is some -- but without maximizing connections, GovLoop fails to solve basic issues of consolidation and engagement that Gov 2.0 itself seeks to address. It is unclear if there is a real mobilization through access, or if the spaces created by Gov 2.0 will simply exist as more colorful and modern interpretations of empty town hall meetings, pitiful voter turnout, and a decline of civil society. Resources (to be integrated!) http://www.govloop.com/page/about-us?utm_source=govloop&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=utility_nav http://www.govloop.com/page/engagement-guidelines http://www.govloop.com/forum/topics/what-is-govloop-etiquette http://www.govloop.com/forum/topics/1154385:Topic:1448?id=1154385%3ATopic%3A1448&page=278#comments Ressler, Steve. “The Rise of Gov 2.0- From GovLoop to the White House.” Public Manager 38, no. 3 (Fall 2009): 10–13.